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2/12/2011

AHHA: The Ten Tenets of Wellness

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Wellness always seems to be working at answering one critical question: Why don't people
do what they know they need to do for themselves? Providing people with good information
about physical fitness, stress management, nutrition, etc., is important, but insufficient. It is
not a matter of lacking information.
When you look at living a healthier life, there seem to be certain factors that have emerged
from the last twenty years or so that the wellness movement field has identified.
1. Wellness is a holistic concept. Anything short of that is incomplete and ultimately
ineffective. We need to look at the whole person and plan lifestyle changes for mind, body,
spirit and environment. Just working at the dimension of wellness that you already like, such
as exercising and minimizing the others, like stress management or nutrition, doesn't work in
the long run.
Michael Arloski, Ph.D.,
PCC is one of the key
developers of the field
of w ellness coaching.
His com pany, Real
Balance Global Wellness
Services
(w w w .realbalance.com ),
is one of the leading
w ellness coach training
organizations in the
w orld. Dr. Arloskis
book Wellness
Coaching For Lasting
Lifestyle Change is the
first and m ost
com prehensive book
w ritten on w ellness and
health coaching.
Professionally
contributing to the
w ellness field since
1979, he has presented
at the National w ellness
Conference over
tw enty-five tim es, and
has keynoted on four
continents. He is a
licensed psychologist,
Professional Certified
Coach (ICF) and a
Certified Wellness
Coach. Call toll free 1866-568-4702.

The American Holistic Health


Association has compiled a
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http://ahha.org/articles.asp?Id=14

2. Self esteem is the critical factor in change. Wellness is caring enough about yourself
to take stock of your life, make the necessary changes and find the support to maintain your
motivation. Heal the wounds. Find what is holding you back from feeling good about yourself
and work through the blocks, not around them. Acknowledge your achievements and express
the "real you."
3. Who we surround ourselves with either helps us stretch our wings and soar, or clips them
again and again. We tend to follow the lead of our peers and find it hard to "go against the
grain." Positive peer health norms encourage wellness lifestyle changes. Mutually beneficial
relationships with friends, lovers, family and colleagues who care about us as people are what
we need to seek and create in our lives. Rather than being threatened by our personal growth,
they support it. Do your friends (partners, etc.) bring out your OK or NOT OK feelings? Giving
and receiving strokes are what it's all about. Friends keep friends well.
4. Break out of the trance! Conscious living means becoming aware of all the choices we
have and acting on them. It involves a realization that we don't have to run our lives on
automatic pilot. We can turn off the television (remember TV stands for "time vacuum"), read
labels, turn off the lawn sprinklers when we have enough rain, notice how our food tastes,
notice how tense and contracted we are when we drive fifteen mph over the speed limit, etc. It
means consciously working on our relationships, life-goals, and maximizing our potential.
5. A sense of connectedness to other people, other species, the earth and &quo;tsomething
greater" grounds us in our lives. We are all of one heart. Much of this sense can come out of
the land we live on. By identifying with where we live, getting to know the plants, animals,
weather patterns, water sources and the landscape itself, we develop not only a love for it, but
feel that love returned. Through our commitment to our place on earth we value and
protect our environment by the way we live our lives, and by how we speak at the ballot box.
Through our contact with the natural world we experience a solid sense of belonging, peace
and harmony.
6. We are primarily responsible for our health. There are the risk factors of genetics,
toxic environments and the like, but our emotional and lifestyle choices determine our
health and well-being more than anything else. As much as we'd like to cling to blame
and cop-outs, we must be honest with ourselves. The flip side is the empowerment this
realization gives us.
7. From increased self-sufficiency comes the confidence and power that overshadows fear.
The Australian Aboriginal people say that when a person cannot walk out onto the land and
feed, clothe and shelter themselves adequately a deep, primal fear grips their soul.
Recognizing our interconnectedness, we grow tremendously when we can care for ourselves
on many different levels. Skills, information and tools that enable us to: choose our food
wisely (or even grow it ourselves); become more competent at our career; adjust the shifter on

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2/12/2011
collection of self-help articles
to support your efforts to
enhance your ow n health
and w ell-being.
This article is part of the
article category

ENHANCING YOUR LEVEL OF


WELLNESS
and the sub-category

CREATE HEALTH

E-m ail page to a friend

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y ( AHHA:g The Ten Tenets) of Wellness


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our bicycle; take a hike into a wilderness area; bake bread from scratch; etc., all increase our
self-respect and self-confidence. We need to learn these skills and teach them to others,
especially our children.
8. As much as we all need time with others, we all need time apart. Solo time, especially in
the natural world, helps us relax, de-contract, and get beyond the distractions of modern life
that prevent us from really knowing ourselves. There are some powerful reasons that peoples
from all around the world have spent time alone (usually in a wilderness setting) in order to
gain vision about the direction and meaning in their lives.
9. You don't have to be perfect to be well. Perfectionism often pushes us to feel ashamed
and feeds a negative view of ourselves. Workaholism, anorexia and other addictive behaviors
can result. Wellness does not mean swearing off hot-fudge sundaes. It just means not
b.s.'ing yourself about when you last had one!
10. Play! We all need to lighten up, not take ourselves (and wellness) so seriously.
Remember the lessons of the coyote and be playful, even ornery in a non-malicious way. Let
the child within out to play. Give yourself permission.
Even with these tenets there is no concrete wellness formula. You have to discover what
works for you and add your own tenets to the list.
Editor's Note: A version of this article appeared in Wellness Management Vol. 10, No. 3, a
publication of The National Wellness Institute, Stevens Point, WI.

http://ahha.org/articles.asp?Id=14

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